9 October 2026 — 10 clues, easiest first. Answers overleaf.
Mouth within speaker cable tangle backstage (5)
5 · Hidden word · difficulty 1/5
Boss holding sherlock looks daft (6)
6 · Container · difficulty 2/5
Injury to feel pain (4)
4 · Double definition · difficulty 2/5
Mean to slip inward and mind the flock (6)
6 · Charade · difficulty 2/5
Esteem after grader upset (6)
6 · Anagram · difficulty 2/5
Banquet winner with a change from W to D (6)
6 · Substitution · difficulty 2/5
Genius in fine training earns distinction primarily — talent (6)
6 · Letter selection · difficulty 2/5
Piano to begin with — seed option feature theme leaving yes (6)
6 · Letter selection · difficulty 3/5
Bobby after a letter swap from B to O plays the dummy (5)
5 · Substitution · difficulty 3/5
How to invest with clerical ecstasy (6)
6 · Letter as symbol · difficulty 3/5
Answers & explanations
SPEAK(5)
Wings hush before the house lights fall. Within takes SPEAK from speaker — mouth, to utter. Gaffer tape and a muted cough cloak the hide as theatre weather rather than a lectern noun stripped for parts.
STUPID(6)
Newsroom desk after the edition locks and phones quiet. Sherlock yields PI; holding parks it in boss (STUD) — STU(PI)D. Daft is the stupid sense. Soft coffee and a humming printer dress the nesting as late-shift aside, not a detective nod.
HURT(4)
Clinic hush when the bruise still throbs. Injury is the health damage; feel pain is to hurt. Four letters for the wound and for being sore.
INTEND(6)
Sheepfold dusk when the gate still creaks. IN (inward) plus TEND (mind, as a shepherd) yields INTEND — mean, to purpose. Wet wool and a bent crook sell the join as farm weather rather than a bare verb dump.
REGARD(6)
'Upset' knocks GRADER about and it settles as REGARD — esteem, a favourable wish of mind. Road machines are the cloak.
DINNER(6)
Champion word softened into the evening meal. Banquet is dinner; winner with a change puts D where W sat, giving DINNER.
GIFTED(6)
Conservatoire praise: a prodigy under polished coaching wins plaudits. Primarily builds G-I-F-T-E-D from genius in fine training earns distinction. Talent is the gift; the recital programme tone fronts the letter trail.
SOFTLY(6)
Conservatoire note after seed option, feature theme, leaving yes. To begin with takes S-O-F-T-L-Y from that phrase. Piano is the softly sense — play quietly — while the recital cue covers the initials.
BOOBY(5)
The answer is BOOBY. The definition is 'dummy'. Starting from the fodder BOBBY, change the letter B to O to form BOOBY.
CLOTHE(6)
Vestry aside when the vestments still hang. Clerical is CLOTH and ecstasy E, so CLOTHE — to invest in garments. Incense tang and a squeaky wardrobe keep clerical-then-E as sacristy talk, not a stock-market joke alone.
About this page
Last updated 2026-10-09
Source Daily cryptic-clue column published by TappyPotato. The clue bank and its schedule are generated deterministically and never change once a set is published.
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Covers The 10 clues for 9 October 2026 with their device and difficulty, plus links to the previous and next published sets
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